Improvement in steam railroad-car brakes



fof the same.

, UNITED kS11/wes PATENT Ormea? HENRY MILLER, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM RAILROADCAR-BRAKES- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l2,l66, dated January 2, 1F55.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY MILLER, ofthe city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Application of Steam and Compressed Air to the Purpose ofOperating Railroad-Brakes; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of the lower portion of a railroad-car having my invention applied. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan Fig. 3 is a section of the steampipe and end view of one of the brake-cylinders. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of the cylinder to show the arrangement for excluding dust, &c.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. Y

This invention consists in a certain arrangement of the cylinder and steam-pipe of each car, whereby,when steam is used,as the steam condenses the water is allowed to run freely and rapidly from the cylinder and pipe, so as to obviate any danger of freezing and choking the apparatus.

It also consists in an arrangement for vprotecting the cylinder, the piston, and the piston-rod from the dust, which is almost always in great quantities under the cars, and for carrying the piston back to the bottom of the cylinder after each action.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the steam or air cylinder, attached to the bottom of a car and fitted with a piston, B, which connects with the lever C of the brakes, or may be connected in any other way that the movementof the piston will operate the brakes. The steam or air is admitted to one end only of the cylinder through a branch pipe, d, from the pipeD, which runs the whole length of the car. The other end ofthe cylinder has suitable communication with the atmosphere to keep it filled with air. 'Ihe pipeDis intended to be connected to the corresponding pipe of the next car by liexible tubes a ct at each end, and so on all through the train; but it is pr'ovided with a valve or cock, b, at or near each end, for the purpose of closing the rear end when the car is the last of the train. These valves or cocks are intended to be provided with some means by which they may be convenient-lyopened or closed by the conductor or some other person on board the train as other cars are attached or detached. Steam or compressed air being admitted from the locomotive-boilerorfroman air-pump or compressedair reservoir to the pipe D does not act upon the piston until every cylinder throughout the train has been filled, when it acts upon all the pistons simultaneously, and thus brakes up the whole train, which is brought entirely under the control of the engineer. The admission of the air or steam is regulated by a cock or throttle valve convenient to the engineer, near which cock or valve should also be placed another, which should be opened to allow the air or steam in the pipes to escape to the atmosphere and free the brakes as soon as the firstnamed cock is closed.

The pipe Dhasa downwardinclination from each end of the car to4 the point where the branch pipe d, which supplies the cylinder, connects, as shown in Fig. 1, and the branch pipe d, which enters the lowest part of the cylinder, has a downward inclination toward the pipe D, as shown in Fig. 3. Beneath the point of junction of the pipes D d there is a small reservoir or receptacle, e.

Ihe above arrangement of the pipes and eylinder, when steam is used, causes all the water which may be condensed either in the pipe D or the cylinder to run toward thereceptacle e, which should be opened at the bottom to let the water out as soon as the steam. is shut off from the pipe D to render the brakes inoperative, though it must be closed during the admission of steam. In order to render the discharge of the condensed water certain, I propose to employ (though I have"not shown) a valve at the bottom of the receptacle e, which would be closed by the pressure of the steam in the pipes, but opened inward by a spring as soon as the steam were shut off, and that left in the pipes allowed to escape.

In order to exclude dust from the cylinder and to protect the piston-rod, which must fit loosely in the cylinder-head, I use a tubular casing, f, of any flexible material, vwhich is secured at one end to the cylinder-head and at the other to the piston-rod. NVithin this casing I place a spiral spring, h, which serves to keep the liexble casing distended laterally and prevent it being injured by tbe piston-rod. This spring also serves to assist in freeing the brakes when the steam or air is shut ofi', and to draw the piston to the head of the cylinder. It is necessary to leave the back of the piston exposed to the atmosphere or to allow the free ingress and egress of air to and from the cylinder, and in order to prevent the dust en* tering in large quantities with the air I pro pose to admit the air by a pipe from the side of or above the car, or from any part where there is comparatively little dust.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The arrangement of the cylinder, the pipe D, and the branch pipe d of each car, substantially as described-to wit, the pipe D inclining downward from each end of the car, and.

the pipe d inclining downward from the lowest point of the cylinder toward the point of junction with the said pipes, so that the condensed water may all run from the pipes and cylinder and escape therefrom or be conveyed into a suitable receptacle provided with proper means of escape, as herein set forth.

2. Incasing the piston-rod with a flexible tube, which is attached at one end to the rod and at the other to the cylinder-head and is keptextended, so as not to be injured by the working of the rod,by means of a spiral spring surrounding the rod, which said spring assists in returning the piston and freeing the brakes after the steam or compressed air is shut off, substantially as described.

HENRY MILLER.

Vitnesses:

S. H. WALES, J. W. HAMILTON. 

